April 2016 in Sedona

We stayed in Villa 1114 from April 20 to May 4th. It was warm & sunny first few days, then cool and light showers through the second half of our stay. There had been very little rain in Sedona prior to our arrival, and there were fewer wildflowers than I've ever seen at that time of year. However because of the light showers we had, by the end of our stay there were a few cacti in bloom. We were taping Elaine's foot due to ruptured ligament, and awaiting her new foot brace. She was also on the Fast Metabolism Diet. But we did enjoy the new, expanded Whole Foods 'bar" where Elaine found foods that were legal for her diet, and I enjoyed some excellent raw oysters & craft beer.

On the first day, Elaine dropped me at Midgley Bridge trailhead, and I did the Jim Thompson trail to the Jordan Road trailhead. I did a few little side "paths" off of the main trail to viewpoints for photo ops.
https://goo.gl/photos/tLpwHgY4gwX81HHJA














































On the second day, Elaine dropped me at Soldiers Pass trailhead, and I went around Ant Hill trail to Grand Central to behind post office and walked back to Arroyo Roble.





















Interesting how some trees appear to have twisted as they grew


Here is a link to photos from Valley of the moon parhttps://goo.gl/photos/ViRYzJCczgnp2s3LAk. Note that the trees in the most picturesque spot in all of Arizona have now grown so that they block part of the view of Cathedral Rock and hide part of the creek. I think Sedona, or the National Forest should hire a professional, or a team of professionals to plan either pruning or clearing part of the view, while leaving it look natural. It would take significant skill to do it properly.
On our last day, Elaine dropped me at the Bell Rock Trailhead and I did the Courthouse Butte Trail. Elaine picked me up at the Bell Rock Pathway Trailhead. Link to photo album












George and Diane Kovacic Visited 4 nights -- They took us to a wonderful late lunch at Javelina Cafe - I had excellent Chile Rellenos.




Trails with George & Diane - Valley of Moon, Fay Canyon, & West Fork - Couldn't find parking at Airport trail after several tries. In fact it appeared that a lot of the trailhead parking was very full for a relatively slow time of year.


Here is a link to photo album of our hike up the Fay Canyon. We went to the designated end. There was no water in the creek.

Here is a link to album of our West Fork hike. We did all 13 crossings to the designated end. Lilacs were in bloom at the beginning of the trail.


Nancy & Mark for weekend -After garage sales on Saturday, and a quiet afternoon because of rain. Rain also on Sunday. But rain brought out flowers for Monday hike On Monday, Elaine dropped me at Jordan Road trailhead.

Took "off road" hike looking for angel falls in light shower -- started Jim Thompson trail and then followed what appeared to be a trail, but might have been a deer or javelina trail. Found some great overlooks, but did not get to the falls, that was certainly dry anyway. Maybe should have gone up Brin's Mesa and forked off from there. Here is a link to photo album:



I had gotten confused about the names of many of the local plants. So because weather was very unstable, I decided to take a relatively close trail while Elaine, Nancy and Mark went out for garage sales. I walked the Carruth Trail and took photos of ID tags placed by an explorer scout 20 years ago. The trail is like a nature trail loop near Posse Ground Park, a dog park a swim center, and elementary school. Views from the trail are very nice. Hopefully it will help serve as a reference when I try to figure out names in the future.

Here is a link to my photo album: https://goo.gl/photos/GDSJXYpf5rczEmw18































































































Had a Brisket Sandwich at Outlaw Grill in Sedona. Place used to be Sally's that had excellent, and reasonably priced barbecue and they had their own big smoker box, Outlaw Grill has been open for 11 months. Owner also has Grasshopper Grill in Cornville, which is larger and where they presumably smoke their meats. Menu is mostly burgers. Prices are relatively very high for a restaurant that is clearly in a very "low rent" location on the back alley. Meat wasn't very smoky, and was drowned in an overly sweet barbecue sauce. Apparently no choice of sauce, and I forgot to ask for it on the side. Fry's were good -- but for $13? It is clear that Sedona restaurants seem to "gouge" the tourists. That is why the timeshares, with kitchens, can make visits to Sedona more reasonably affordable.

September 2015 in Sedona

Sean drove to Sedona with us and we stayed in Villa 1114 at Arroyo Roble for 2 weeks starting on September 21st. Sean flew home after 8 days, and Suzanne came the day later and drove home with us


Nancy and Kay visited for 2 nights near the beginning of our stay. Weather was relatively warm and dry at the beginning of our stay, but on the last few days of the trip we had lots of showers and it cooled off.

Fay canyon with Sean -- Went up Fay Canyon and back -- pretty dry! Saw arch, and fellow hikers pointed out the "wine goblet" formation further up trail from the arch. At the end, we picked our way further up the wash in search of possible petroglyphs, but didn't find them -- Here is link to photo album: https://goo.gl/photos/WCfENG3zgbrM9e3Y8

Fay Canyon with Sean in September 2015

Brin's mesa - Started at Jordan Road Trailhead and then turned right at the top of the mesa and went to overlook & returned.  Here is link to photos: https://goo.gl/photos/3f2A2fRKDMEVCUVF7


Tapas Mariposa..dinner Javelina Restaurant with Sean, Nancy and Kay.

Doe Mountain Trail with Seane full circle clockwise at the top of the Doe Mountain Mesa. Saw three small kit foxes running along a ledge.

Hiked Marg's Draw with Sean from Circle K directly toward Damfino Pass and then circle clockwise back around almost to Broken Arrow Trail -- met up with Marg's Draw at South end and returned to Circle K   Here is link to photo album: https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipN6BXCyj0TdSOuOqFtQAqwMqevZitjtRSZ87FKU


Flagstaff Arboretum "outer loop" Trail after Volunteer bird show and tour of local gardens -- Late lunch at Salsa Brava --Diner's Drive-Ins & Dives recommended restaurant--Good burritos and chimichangas, chips & salsa bar.

Blood Moon Eclipse from up Jordan Road Neighborhood

Allen's Bend Trail from Grasshopper Point to Casner Canyon Junction--by Oak Creek -then up across highway to unnamed trail under power lines part way that connected to Wilson Mountain Trail--came down that trail to where it joined Wilson Canyon Trail and ended up at Midgley Bridge where Elaine picked us up.

West Fork to legal end. 13 crossings. Lots of apples & pears on trees near entrance. Fire damage somewhat hidden


Sean swam in Oak Creek behind Arroyo Roble at big pink rock before getting the shuttle to Phoenix Sky Harbor. He was able to find a spot in the current where he could swim a while without moving.  He also found lots of interesting items and critters in the bottom of the creek where he was swimming.

From sedona sean swims Oak Creek Sep 2015

From sedona sean swims Oak Creek Sep 2015

Oct 2015

From sedona sean swims Oak Creek Sep 2015

From sedona sean swims Oak Creek Sep 2015

Bell rock path & part of climb to view

Song low by florida

Suzanne and I hiked Broken arrow to chicken point to little horse. sedona broken arrow to little horse with suzanne  Here is link to album: https://goo.gl/photos/umSKk4DbK4pHchnR8







Clarkville Bali imports page springs fish hatchery oak creek vinyards

April 2015 in Sedona

For the second time in a row, we stayed in unit 1108 at Arroyo Roble "old creekside" for two weeks starting April 21st.   Nancy Lunetta and Kay Coen visited.
While the ladies shopped, I revisited the Cibola Pass trail:

The next morning Nancy and I went up Oak Creek Canyon about a mile to the Grasshopper point trailhead and did the Allen's Bend trail along the creek. Below is slide show:

Thursday night Nancy prepared a classic Sicilian Italian Dinner

We enjoyed it on the patio overlooking the creek, but it was unseasonably cool.

Thursday eve, Nancy & I attended a presentation by Larry Lindahl, a relatively famous photographer, at the Sedona Creative Life Center -- which is just across the creek from Arroyo Roble (but very difficult to get to that way).  Attending the talk was interesting in three ways:

1. It gave me an opportunity to learn more about the Creative Life Center (see this link)which is a beautiful place and a very interesting concept.  
2. I got to learn more about the local archeological society.  
3. And I got to be introduced to the artistry and experiences of Larry Lindahl. He was primarily pitching his new book of photographs, and went into some detail of how he got to the somewhat exotic locations throughout Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona to take the photos.  He also briefly described some of the techniques he used to get some of his fabulous photos. (15 second exposures while enhancing with flashlights, for example)  Here is a link to his web site which has samples of his amazing photos.  To get his photos, Larry went to many locations I had never heard of: Chaco Canyon, Casa Rinconada, Aztec Ruins National Monument, Hovenweep National Monument, Edge of the Cedars State Park, Keet Seal Basin etc.  Since that talk I have already encountered references to those locations.  Definately a worthwhile one hour spent!

Friday Morning, I drove up the canyon to above the West Fork Trailhead, but below the switchbacks where the Cave Springs campground is located.  I parked in the lot by the entrance to the campground where the Harding Springs Trailhead signs are located.  The trail starts across 89A on the East Side and goes up a fairly steep climb up to a plateau that is very nicely forested and has some great overlooks.  There was some light rain when I got to the top, so the views were not as good as they could have been.  But it was really beautiful.

We had a relatively cold, rainy weekend.  It was nice to see the rain!  On Tuesday, Apr 28th, Elaine dropped me off at the Dry Creek trailhead, where the 4WD trail starts.  I then walked either the 4WD road, or the parallel trail past the Devil's Bridge trailhead to the Brin's Mesa Trail.  I went over the pass, and then came down to the Jordan Road trailhead where Elaine met me.   Even though we had recent rain, there were very few signs of moisture anywhere.  But scenery was beautiful, as usual.

Here are other photos from the hike:

On Wednesday, Elaine and I went up to Flagstaff and did a 1.5mi loop around Buffalo Park.  It was particularly beautiful with the snow-capped San Francisco Peaks in view.  Weather was perfect!

For Lunch, we went to Salsa Brava, a restaurant Elaine saw on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  Excellent Mexican food, with unique seasoning flavors.  Also enjoyed their sopapillas!

On our way back down Oak Creek Canyon, we stopped at Cave Spring Campground and walked a trail through the old apple orchard and down along the creek.  All photos from the day are below:

Had a beautiful evening and sunset, so took a few photos along the creek in front of our Arroyo Roble unit's patio:

On Thursday, Elaine dropped me of at the Schnebly Hill Road Trailhead at the end of pavement, and start of Jeep-only road.  I followed the 4WD road or the Mund's Wagon trail that criss-crosses each other on the way up, depending upon how I felt, or the view.  It was a nice, gentle hike going up, and I went past Merry-Go-Round rock, and around the top to the Schnebly Hill Overlook, which looks down on Oak Creek on the other side.  According to GPS, the hike up was 5.32 mi, and I started at 4400 ft elevation and ended up around 5900 ft. Below are photos from the uphill trip.

From the Viewpoint, Casner Canyon Trail goes down to Oak Creek.  It was a well-marked trail, but I have the feeling it isn't used very much.  A lot of the trail was loose rock, and there was at least one spot where a very large rock had fallen onto the trail.  At the bottom, I had to wade across Oak Creek, then joined Allens Bend trail.  I walked Allens Bend trail to Grasshopper Point, went up the entrance road partway and re-joined Allens Bend trail which went South to Midgley Bridge.  At the bridge, I was finally able to get cell phone reception so I could call Elaine to pick me up there.  The way down was about 4.08 mi, and descent was from 5900 ft to 4300 ft.  Below is slideshow from that portion of the hike

On our last full day of our Spring 2015 two week visit to Sedona, Elaine dropped me off at the Broken Arrow Trailhead.  Our friend Barbara Glass recommended a new trail, called "Hog Heaven" --and it was the trail of the month in Sedona Monthly Magazine for April 2015.  The trail was about a 3 mile loop and had under 500 ft elevation change.  Through most of the hike I could either see & hear jeeps from the Broken Arrow trail to Chicken Point, or after crossing the saddle, I could see and hear highway and homes.  However, even though it wasn't far from civilization, the trail was beautiful with lots of excellent vistas.   Below are photos from the hike:
  

September 2014 in Sedona

Elaine & I stayed at Arroyo Roble unit 1108 for two weeks starting September 19th Friday-to-Friday.  Weather was beautiful!  Elaine & I did Thunder Mountain, and I went up to the top for a view, while Elaine enjoyed shade down below.
Nancy Lunetta and Kay Coen visited, and Nancy and I did the hike to Seven Sacred Pools.  Here is a link to photo album:

Nancy & I at trailhead

At the "pools"

Nancy, Kay, and Elaine surprised me with a celebration of my 70th birthday a few weeks early.
On the 24th, I did the Ridge Trail by myself.  Here is link to photos  Elaine dropped me off at trail head along Chavez Ranch Rd, and then picked me up at Shelby  Rd.  Here is a link to National Forest Description

 Scenery along the trail was surprisingly good, and there were more flowers blooming in September than most areas had in April, because of the dry winter and wet "monsoon" season during the summer.

The next day, I explored the Javelina Trail, which is a relatively new trail that starts on W 89A just West of the Post Office.  Elaine dropped me off and picked me up at the Jordan Road trailhead.  Here's a link to photos

For being as close to civilization as it is, the trail seemed to be far from it.  Lots of forest and as I got up higher, there were some good views.

The next day I did what is becoming one of my favorite hikes -- Brin's Mesa with a North detour up to an overlook.  Views are always spectacular, and difficult to capture properly with photos.  However here is a link to my photos from that day.

 This is the view from a very high perch with sheer walls below

We brought along the 2 person rubber raft, so Elaine and Nancy did their "white water rafting" down the mighty Oak Creek in front of Arroyo Roble.  Weather was perfect, water was not too cold, and they had a really good time.  Link to photos & video.  Also during their short stay in Sedona, Nancy and I did the Marg's draw trail from Schnebly Hill Road trailhead, and Nancy took all of us out to brunch at Enchantment. 

 Nancy at the Marg's Draw trailhead

Nancy at Enchantment Resort

Due to the horrible forest fire in Oak Creek Canyon during June, all of the trails in the canyon were closed from June until the beginning of October.  Our son, Sean flew to Flagstaff, and then drove home with us after spending several fun days hiking the trails.  We were very pleased that they opened the West Fork trail before we left to go home.  It was clear that the firefighters had a very difficult time in that canyon, but they did manage to save most of it.  There were patches of forest where most of the trees were damaged or destroyed.  The West Fork was full of ash/mud at the many ford/crossings, which was somewhat ugly.  But other than that the trail was beautiful, as usual. 

When Sean arrived at Flagstaff Airport, we took him on a short tour of Flagstaff, including a hike in Buffalo Park, lunch at one of the many excellent brew pubs in Flagstaff.  

Sean at Buffalo Park

At Meadow at Oak Creek Canyon Overlook

Then the three of us did the short walk to Griffith Springs,  and a walk around the Oak Creek Canyon overlook at the top of the switchback. Here's link to photos

Sean & I did a hike to Submarine rock and Chicken Point, and Elaine picked us up at the Chapel. Link to album

Then we drove back Dry Creek Road and hiked to Devil's bridge --Link to Album , then drove to the Palatki archeological site, and took the docent tour of the ruins.

 Sean at Devil's Bridge

We were very pleased when they opened the West Fork Trail -- and we were among the first people to take the trail since it was closed in June. (Link to Album)

Sean Crossing the West Fork at about the 7th crossing--lots of ash in water

To wrap up our 2 weeks in Sedona, and Sean's 5 days, Elaine dropped us off at Red Rock Crossing and we hiked along the Creek and up to the top of Cathedral Rock.  Elaine picked us up at the Back 'O Beyond trailhead.  Pretty strenuous hike! Link To Album

 Sean out on a point up in the Cathedral Rock formation -- yeah, that's a sheer drop below him.

Sean on Ledge at near the top of Cathedral Rock

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Sedona Hiking Information and Resources

There are a lot of excellent web sites and books that can help visitors find information about hikes.  Because there are so many trails and so much information available it makes it difficult to decide which trail to take. There are several different visitor centers in the Sedona area, and the rangers and docents are always very helpful.  The National Forest Visitor Center along route 179 just South of Village of Oak Creek has lots of good information.  The visitor center in "Uptown Sedona" next to the Hyatt timeshare is also an excellent spot to stop.
Here are some of the web sites:

• William F. Palmer Professor Emeritus of Physics at The Ohio State University has this web site, which has a lot of the Sedona trails listed alphabetically along with a trail description, map and photos. 
• Great Sedona Hikes by William Bohan, at this URL has a database of hikes with the ability to sort by difficulty and alphabetic. It also identifies ones near water, near vortexes etc. The site also has descriptions and maps of the trails 
• The Hike House web site: www.hikehouse.com has trails as well as videos that could be helpful for someone trying to select a trail to explore. 
• The Red Rock Country Map published by the Coconino National Forest provides an excellent overview of many of the trails in the area. I found a copy on this blog web site. The Forest service also has excellent descriptions and maps at this link, and you can choose between day hikes and overnight hikes 
• This Blog: http://arizonahiking.blogspot.com/ has over 500 Arizona trails indexed. It was created by Mare Czinar, who writes a regular column (Including "hike of the week") for several Arizona newspapers. Her site has quite a few of the Sedona area trails, and seems to be more up-to-date than some of the others. For example, it includes "Adobe Jack" trailhead that was opened in 2012 along with the trails throughout that basin. 

There is also an application for iPhone or Android that specializes in Sedona Hikes an now has 74 trails cataloged.  It is called:  -- "Sedona Hiking App"  Apparently new hikes are added periodically, since I just received an email (from Jon Clayton info@sedonahikingapp.com ) that described Turkey Creek Trail as being added to the app.  

April 2014 in Sedona

In April, we stayed in unit 1101 at Arroyo Roble, at the "upstream end" of Old Creekside.  Carol Pennell joined us for a few nights at the beginning of the 2 weeks.

On Friday,  Elaine dropped me off at the Airport Road Trailhead, and I did the loop around the airport mesa.  We have done the trail part way many times, but had never done the complete loop. Go to this link and open in Google Earth to see the trail:   Because of the dry winter & Spring, there were not many wildflowers -- a big disappointment!  However Friday night we had a good rainstorm, which brought snow to the higher elevations.  Hopefully the rain will bring out some more wildflowers.  Here are photos:

Elaine dropped me off at the Cocks Comb trailhead today. Trailhead is off Boynton Pass Road, just past the Doe Mountain trailhead.  Here's a link to Palmers Trail write-up.Here's Palmer's map and elevation chart.  He describes a simple round-trip to top of mesa and return.   Here's great Sedona Hikes description -- but it doesn't include a the trip to the top of the mesa.  Most of the trail was flat and very bicycle friendly. However I followed the trail advice by "Cosmic Ray" trail guide and climbed up to the top of the Cocks Comb mesa. Spectacular View! Here is a link to the "track" that will open with Google Earth. Note from the well marked and maintained trail, there is NO marking for the turnoff to go to the top of the mesa.  In fact, there was a log across the trail, as if someone didn't want us to take the trail.  However the trail can be easily seen on the right side as you pass by homes being built on the left side of the trail.  Below are the photos I took on the trail:

Elaine and I hiked Marg's Draw Trail from Schnebly Road past Snoopy Rock.  We met other hikers that had us take a photo of them -- and they took a couple of us as well.  We met "Reno" on the trail too--a retired cardiologist who was a member of Sedona Hiking Club for many years.

On Friday, while making coffee, I saw a large herd of Javelinas run by the window, so I went upstairs, grabbed the camera and took these photos from the back balcony:

Then,  Elaine dropped me off at the Yavapai Vista trailhead.  It is at the last overlook heading South on 179 before you get to Village of Oak Creek.  Our friend Barbara Glass recommended the trails at that location.  I took the Yavapai Vista trail to the HiLine trail and ended up at Cathedral Rock and came down the relatively steep trail to the trailhead parking lot where Elaine picked me up.  The views were spectacular!  Here is a link to the trail write-up by Great Sedona Hikes, and here is another write-up by Palmer

On Saturday morning Elaine dropped me off at the Centennial Trail area on Cultural Park Place, near the High School and Community College, and then picked me up in the Color Cove Street neighborhood off Dry Creek Road.

On our last Spring 2014 day in Sedona, Elaine dropped me of at the Schnebly Road trailhead and hiked up the Mund's wagon trail to where the Hangover trail and then hiked up hangover to where it connected with Cowpies and then returned via the Munds wagon.  While at the top of the hill on Hangover, I lost the trail!  I met a hiker named Stephanie who had been on the trail several times.  She  led me around the North side of the mountain on the trail until it met up with cow pies.  She then went on up to Merry-go-Round overlook, and I returned to the trailhead via Munds Wagon.  Here's a link to the "My Tracks" that, when opened with Google Earth, it shows the whole route I took:  8.88 Mile loop.  Here is link to trail description, and a link to the map in the area: http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~palmer/SedonaTrails/Bear's%20Hangover/Hangover.JPG
Below are my photos from the trip:

September 2013 -A green Fall in Sedona

We went to Sedona for 2 weeks starting on September 18th and stayed at Arroyo Roble unit 1102. On the way to Sedona we noticed that everything looked much greener in the desert than any other fall trip to Arizona.  The "monsoon" rain storms they had during the previous month really helped the plants.

Our Sunnyvale friends, Nancy Lunetta and Kay Coen came for a few nights, and Phoenix friends Nancy Rieckhoff and Mark Mann came for Friday and Saturday night.  Elaine and the three ladies found lots of bargains, and Mark and I did a few fun hikes.

My first hike was up Wilson Canyon -- the trail starting at Midgley Bridge which is just a few miles up Route 179 from our timeshare. (Link to Trail Description)  Elaine and I had done the hike before part way.  Then a few years later,  Bill and I did it all the way to the top.  This time there seemed to be more water in the creek (that you have to criss-cross back and forth over.  I was surprised to see that someone had placed a "trails end" sign at a nondescript location, very close to the spot that is the attraction at the end.  I have the impression that the Forest Service, or trail builders want everyone to stop.  However why would we stop there when there is such a wonderful view of spires and back the canyon just up a short hill?  I think they need to extend the "official trail" up to the first hill and then put "end of trail sign" there.  Because there is no "official trail" -- everyone makes their own and causes considerable damage, wear & tear on the environment.  There were also a surprising amount of wildflowers for a fall hike.  Here are some photos

Here is a .kml file that you can download and open using Google Earth.  If you then go to maximum magnification you will be able to simulate a "personal drone" tracking my path along the trail  It was my first attempt at using "My Tracks" and I started when I left the timeshare and drove to the trailhead.

The next day while Elaine went to garage sales with Nancy Lunetta and Kay Coen, I drove up Oak Creek Canyon a little further --almost to Slide Rock State Park, near the Manzanita Campground, and parked near the trailhead for Sterling Pass.  I hiked up through Sterling Pass, and back down the other side to Vultee Arch.  Then, of course I had to hike back up through the pass again and back to the trailhead.  It was quite a climb.  A lot of the pass trail was on the North side of ridges, and were cooler and wetter.  There were a lot of different wildflowers.  Here are some photos from the hike:

Here, again, is a .kml file that you can open with Google Earth and track every step of my hike as if you were in a personal drone overhead.

Here are some photos from Nancy & Kay's short visit:

Mark Mann and I hiked a little bit of the Sedona Airport Trail (Hike Description),  the Airport Vortex hill,  and then hiked the Soldier's Pass trail past Devil's Kitchen, the Seven Sacred Pools (all had water), up to the rim of Brinn's Mesa and then returned.  The next day we went to Clarkville with them (to an importer from Indonesia) and then to Red Rock Crossing.  Here are some photos from their visit:

On Monday, Elaine dropped me off at the Doe Mountain trailhead parking lot, and I crossed the road to the Bear Mountain Trail -- one of the highest peaks in the area (Link to Description).  Here are photos from that hike:

Here is the Google Earth kml file to take the virtual hike.  Note I forgot to stop the "recording" until after Elaine picked me up and we had driven a little bit -- so no, I didn't hike at 45 mph.

While on the Sterling Pass hike, I met a group of hikers that told me that everytime they visit Sedona they take the "Little Horse" trail from the Chapel--and thought it was one of the highlights of their visit.  I looked it up and the trail that starts at the Chapel is "The Chapel" trail --but it connects to the Little Horse Trail. (Here's another description) So Elaine and I did hike the Chapel trail...and it was very beautiful.  Good views looking towards Cathedral Rock, Views south to Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte, and views looking up at the amazing rock formations.  I thought it was labeled an "easy" hike, but after we completed it I found out that other sites call it a moderate difficulty hike.  Not much overall climb--but lots of up & down.
Here are our photos:

Cathedral Rock Climb to the Top I had always heard there was a way to hike to the top of Cathedral Rock, (link to map) but had never explored that option.  On previous trips we took the trail from the trailhead off "Back 'O Beyond" down to Red Rock Crossing, and saw the trail to the top of Cathedral Rock --but never had the time to do it.  This time I went up on a beautiful day, took my time, plenty of water and snacks and really enjoyed the hike and the views.  A Japanese guy went up the trail when I went up and he was carrying a case with a lute.  He sat and played up at the top and his music echoed off all of the spires. The music seemed to come from everywhere.
Here are some photos:




Brins Mesa Overlook Trail  Elaine dropped me off at the Jordan Road trailhead  (map) and I hiked to the rim of the mesa.  I then took a little used trail to the top of the ridge on the South side of the mesa.  From the top of that ridge I could see all of Sedona, and look down on Soldier's pass trail.  I could see jeeps parked at the "7 Sacred Pools" location.  There was no clear trail marking, so I did get a little lost.  Fortunately, I had the "my tracks" app running (see this track on Google Earth)  and I was able to see that I wasn't going down the mountain the same way I came up --and was able to recover the trail.  Then after coming down from that ridge, I went to the overlook on the North side that Bill helped me find several years ago.  It was an easy walk across the broad mesa winding through the juniper trees.  After I got to the overlook, I also explored a couple of alcoves down below.   They were difficult to get to--and were big holes -- but nothing really special.  The view from the top, however was fabulous!

Here are my photos from the trail

Little Horse Trail  Elaine and I hiked the little horse trail --from the trailhead along rt 179. (Link to kml trail file)  Was a fairly easy hike --when walking, however there were quite a few trail bike riders on the trail.  It looked to us that it would be a little challenging for bikes --but certainly a fun ride.

Here are our photos

Wilson Mountain Trail
Elaine dropped me off at the Encinoso Picnic area, which was the trailhead for the "North" trail to Wilson Mountain.  I ended up hiking about 11 miles and up and down about 2000 ft in elevation and went to the Sedona overlook and the Brin's Canyon overlook.  (Here's link to the kml file that can be viewed on google maps or Google Earth ) I came down the "Southern" trail and met Elaine at Midgley Bridge.  Here are photos: